Childs Play
by Kotoni-Chan
Summary: The Host Club play a friendly game of Hide-and-Seek. While on the run from Haruhi, the twins get separated and Kaoru gets trapped in a closet, where he thinks about what his brother means to him. Unbeknownst to him, Hikaru is doing the same. Slight HXK


"Takashi, I'm booorreeed," The blond haired senior whined as he stuffed the last piece of chocolate cake into his mouth and sat the fork down on the small plate. He looked up at his taller cousin. "I wanna play a game!" The Host Club was over for the day, yet everyone was still around doing some quick preparations for tomorrow. Mori looked down at the younger looking teen and gave him a wordless pat on the head, signaling Honey to go on. "We always have so much extra time after the club is over, so why not make the most of it and play a game of Follow the Leader?"

"Who would want to play that?" Hikaru's voice questioned back at the couch he and his twin were sitting on.

"Yeah, that's a child's game." Kaoru agreed, both twins crossing their arms over their chests and nodding.

"Well, how about Duck Duck Goose?" Honey asked with a little pout at his previous game being insulted. The twins both made an obviously disgusted look.

"That's even worse!" They both exclaimed.

"What are you both yelling about?" Haruhi asked, walking towards the group with Tamaki after putting the extra tea and uneaten snacks away.

"I wanna play a game, but Hika-chan and Kao-chan think my games are childish!" Honey whined, tears falling as he clung onto Mori.

"A game?" Haruhi asked. "I don't think that's such a good idea. After all, the school will be locking up soon and—" she started when Tamaki butted in.

"What a marvelous idea! A game for the Host Club since they have so much time on their hands!" He waved his arms around dramatically as he danced over to Honey. "Honey-sempai, name your game and I would be honored to play!" Honey's honey-colored eyes sparkled as he threw his arms up in the air and cheered.

"Yay! Thanks Tama-chan!" He grinned. "How about we play Hide-and-Seek? Even big people play that game sometimes!" Tamaki smiled.

"An excellent choice Honey-sempai!" He stood up and faced the group. "We will all be playing Hide-and-Seek!" He ran over to Kyoya who was looking over the day's profits and punching numbers into a calculator. "Mommy's going to play too, right?" He asked with a grin.

"No thanks." The navy-blue haired man said without looking up from his papers. Tamaki gasped as he shrunk down into his little depressed corner, twiddling his fingers.

"But…why not?" he asked, tears in his violet eyes.

Hikaru rolled his eyes and looked over towards Kaoru as The Boss worked his Powers of Persuasion on the Shadow King.

"Hide-and-Seek huh?" He sighed as he propped his elbow up onto his younger brother's shoulder and rested his head on his hand. "Not really my kind of game."

"Yeah, but if Boss wants us to play then we really don't have a choice." Kaoru replied. "If we refuse, that could be us next." He pointed over to where Tamaki was squeezing Kyoya's legs and crying hysterically. Hikaru shuttered but soon found himself smirking as a thought hit him.

"Maybe it won't be so bad after all," He smiled as he faced his confused younger brother. "Let's make this game interesting."

"What are you talking about?" Kaoru asked, noticing the mysterious gleam in his twin's eyes.

* * *

"The rules are simple: You can hide anywhere you want in the school, but you must stay inside. If the person who is the seeker finds you, they must tag you to be out. The home base will be the cafeteria, so if you are in there then you are safe from being tagged. If you get tagged and are out, you can't help the seeker find the others, and you can't tag anyone you see running. If you are seeking, you must wait three minutes before searching for the others at the beginning of the game. The first person found and tagged is the next seeker, and the last person hiding wins the round. When all but one person is found then the person 'It' will hit this button and a chime will go off over the intercom." He held out a grey box with a red button on it, and pushed it. A loud chime, like the sound of an old Grandfather Clock went off all throughout the school. "When you hear that, whoever is still in hiding can come out of their hiding spot and meet us in the cafeteria. Any questions?" Tamaki asked. Haruhi raised her hand.

"Yes; is this really necessary? The school is locking up soon and we all have to finish getting ready for tomorrow." She nagged. Kyoya sighed.

"Quite right, but Tamaki does have a point when he says that a refreshing game will lift everyone's spirits and help us double our profits for tomorrow. That's the only reason I'm playing." He said plainly, obviously annoyed at having to play at all. Haruhi sighed again, defeated.

"Alright! Lets get this game started!" Hikaru and Kaoru cheered, Honey following suit.

"Oh, and one more rule," Tamaki started, looking over at the twins, Honey, and Mori. "Though this means I will not be able to hide with my beloved daughter… no hiding in pairs."

"What?" Honey whined, clutching onto Mori. Tamaki put his hands up in defense, an apologetic look on his face.

"It's not that I have a problem with you two! I just don't trust _them_!" He pointed over at the twins who were smirking mischievously. "It wouldn't be fair if I didn't allow them to hide together but let you two do it. You understand, right Honey-sempai?" Honey nodded, wiping tears out of his eyes.

"Chill out, Boss," Hikaru smiled. "We weren't going to hide together anyways."

"Oh really?" Tamaki asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's odd." The twins shrugged.

"Meh, if we hide together then there's a greater chance of being caught." Hikaru pointed out.

"Yeah, but you can still let Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai hide together." Kaoru concluded. Tamaki shrugged.

"If that's what you want, now let's get started!" Tamaki smiled as he magically pulled out straws that appeared to all be the same length in his hand. "Let's draw straws to see who the seeker will be! Shortest straw is it!" The students all reached out and grabbed a straw, leaving one for Tamaki.

"Wow, my straw is really long, Takashi!" Honey cheered. A cry emitted from Tamaki as he looked at the length of his straw.

"How can this be? My straw is so short! I'm going to be the seeker for sure!" A groan came from his side as he saw Haruhi hold out her straw.

"I'm not so sure about that, Tamaki-sempai." She mumbled as she compared their straw sizes.

Hers was just a millimeter shorter.

"Well, Kaoru's and I's straws are longer then Haruhi's, so I guess we're not it!" Hikaru smiled, throwing his arm over his younger twin's shoulders.

"Same thing with Takashi and Kyo-chan!" Honey smiled as Kyoya held out a medium sized straw.

"My poor daughter is the seeker! What a shame!" Tamaki said dramatically. "Anyways, stay in this room for at least three minutes, then come out to look."

"Whatever," Haruhi mumbled, not wanting to play this stupid game anymore. Her plan was to find everyone as quickly as possible then get home before they could offer to start another round.

"Let the game begin!" The twins cheered as they ran out of the Host Club room as quickly as possible. Haruhi narrowed her eyes. The twins were getting way too into this. The rest of the Host Club, minus Haruhi, ran out of the room laughing (Besides Kyoya who walked briskly out with a book in hand, not uttering a word). The brunette girl looked at the clock and sighed, sitting down to wait until it was time for her to start looking.

* * *

"Okay, so you know the plan?" Hikaru asked Kaoru as they made a quick dash around the corner. The orange haired younger twin nodded.

"Yeah." He smiled, trying hard to suppress a giggle. With that, the twins began to mess around with all of the doors, opening some up a crack or all the way in order to make it appear someone went inside. For other doors, they kept them shut but left a clue that someone could be inside by turning the lights either off or on, depending on the room.

The goal? Make Haruhi feel as if she has to search every room in the school for the possibility of someone being inside it.

Just as another door was propped open, the twins turned around and ran into their blond, violet eyed upperclassman.

"What do you two think you're doing? You said you weren't going to hide together!" The golden eyed teens raised their hands up defensively.

"We aren't hiding together!" They exclaimed in unison.

"We were just making the game more fun." Hikaru stated innocently.

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed, same innocent expression as his older twin. Tamaki looked at the classrooms and how the doors and lights had been messed with.

"That's cheating!" Tamaki cried. The younger teens shrugged nonchalantly.

"You never said anything about it." Kaoru pointed out.

"But someone could be hiding in there!" Tamaki retaliated.

"Chill Boss, it's just a few doors." Hikaru calmly stated. The blond haired teen fumed as he pointed off down the hall.

"You need to—" he started when he was cut off by Haruhi's voice.

"Ready or not, here I come." She called out in a bored fashion. Tamaki squealed.

"Hide, hide, hide!" He whispered as he took off running, Hikaru and Kaoru following suit.

"Hey, Hikaru…!" Kaoru said as he ran behind his brother, who wasn't listening.

The three ran into the darker part of the school where all of the lights were shut off and the only visible things that could be seen were illuminated with the light of the rising moon that shown in through the windows. Tamaki slowed down and faced the other two. He had to squint in the darkness in order to see Hikaru's face. Kaoru must be behind him.

"We all need to separate or else we'll get caught easier."

"Yeah, yeah, boss. You go first. We're still looking for a spot." Hikaru smiled. Tamaki shrugged.

"Okay," And he took off running around the corner ahead.

"Too bad he had to ruin our fun." Hikaru mumbled to his younger brother.

There was no response.

"Kaoru?" Hikaru asked as he turned around in the darkness. His eyes adjusted a little more and he soon realized that he was alone in the hallway.

_What? Did he already get a hiding spot without telling me?_ Hikaru wondered as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, thanks for finding one without me." He muttered into the darkness as he angrily ran off to go find a hiding spot.

* * *

Kaoru wandered the darkened halls is search of where Tamaki and Hikaru had run off to. He face palmed himself as he cursed his brother's and Tamaki's ability to run so fast, and for Hikaru not listening when he tried to ask him to slow down. Kaoru hated how much slower he was compared to Hikaru.

_He probably already found himself a hiding spot._ Kaoru thought as he continued walking in the darkness. Why the heck was the west wing of the school so dark anyways? Suddenly, footsteps could be heard from behind him as he turned and made out Haruhi's approaching figure. His first instinct was to run, but once he realized she hadn't seen him yet he turned and rushed to the nearest door, gripping the cold doorknob and dashing inside.

Through the darkness, Kaoru realized that this was his foreign language classroom, since the lesson for the day was still written on the dark chalkboard. Kaoru made his way silently over to his seat and sat on the desk to catch his breath.

_I wonder where Hikaru is hiding. I wish we could have finished our prank. It would have been fun._ The goal of the prank was to make the seeker be forced to look through all the rooms since they were tampered with to make it look like someone had gone in there, so that they could make sure that there was no one hiding anywhere. Then they were going to purposely throw a rock or something into the rooms to make a sound and to make the person who was "it" go back to reexamine the room. Then when they got bored they were going to go into one of the rooms already checked and hide in separate spots so that they couldn't be accused of hiding together. The plan was foolproof! Kaoru sighed.

_I hope Hikaru hasn't gotten caught yet. _Suddenly, the handle to the door could be heard turning and Kaoru jumped. _I need to hide! _He wasn't sure if the others had been found yet, but just in case he definitely did NOT want to lose this game and be one of the first people found! Looking around the room, Kaoru found the teacher's cabinet where he stored his coats and other things he wore to school. He ran over to the wall and opened it up, relieved to see that it was empty AND just the right size to fit him AND Hikaru into it, which meant that it was pretty big, Almost like a small closet. Silently, Kaoru slipped in and closed the doors. He heard a small click, but figured that was just the door closing all the way. He heard footsteps enter the room and a familiar sigh.

"This school is so big, it's not fair to have just one person looking," Haruhi mumbled as she scanned the room. Eyeing the cabinet, she walked over to it. A small latch was slid down into a metal ring, showing that the door was locked.

_No one could be inside if the door is locked. _She thought as she turned and walked away. Kaoru heard the shutting of the door and released the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

_Strange, _he thought. _I'm surprised she didn't look in here._ He mentally shrugged and pushed on the blue doors to open them, but found that they were stuck. _What?_ He thought as he pushed again.

"L-locked?" Kaoru gasped as he backed up and rammed into the doors.

_No way! How can they be locked?_ He then remembered the little click heard earlier when he closed the doors. _That must have been the lock latching into place…_

"Hey! Haruhi!" Kaoru called out, hoping that the girl was still within hearing distance. "HARUHI!"

No response.

He waited a few minutes before calling out again, but still no response. He took a step back into the back of the cabinet and slid down to the ground.

"Oh no…" He murmured as he crossed his arms on his knees.

_This wouldn't have happened if I didn't get separated from Hikaru. Hikaru… _He thought with sadness. _I can't believe he didn't realize I wasn't with him and come back for me. This is horrible! Even if everyone else is found, nobody will think to look for me in a place where Haruhi already checked. What do I do?_

* * *

"Got cha!" Haruhi gasped as she tapped the hysterical Tamaki in the back as he took off in a run.

"Oh no! Was I the first one caught?" Tamaki sobbed from his depressed corner. Haruhi shook her head and sighed.

"No, I found Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai already, but because I found them both at the same time I don't know who the loser is. Tamaki sighed and shot up.

"Now all you have to do is find Kyoya, Hikaru and Kaoru!" He smiled. His smile instantly fell as he turned towards Haruhi. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted those twins! The minute they ran out that door they were up to no good! They were vandalizing the game by messing around with the doors and lights in the classrooms!" The brunette girl sighed again and put her hands on her hips.

"It's alright Tamaki-sempai. I knew it was a prank since it was so obvious and skipped those rooms." Tamaki brightened up.

"That's my little girl!" He cheered, hugging the brunette. Haruhi sighed and pulled herself away.

"I'm going to check to see if anyone made it to the cafeteria." She said. Tamaki nodded and followed her.

* * *

Hikaru gasped as he ran into the cafeteria, exhausted from all of the running he did looking for a suitable place to hide. When he ran into the large room, he noticed Kyoya sitting on a chair at a table reading a book. Hikaru approached him.

"You get out already?" He asked the dark haired man. Kyoya laughed and turned towards the other male.

"I'm afraid not, I'm simply taking a break from hiding. And you? Tell me: Where has your other half run off to? I didn't expect you to actually keep your word and hide separately." A thought hit him. "Or did you get caught and have come to wait for him here with the others who were caught?" He turned towards another table where Honey and Mori were sitting, smiling and eating cake(Honey was, Mori just sat there and watched him). Hikaru sighed.

"I lost him while running away from Haruhi, and now I don't know where he is. He probably went off to hide and I just didn't know it, but for some reason I doubt that. I run a lot faster than he does, so I probably left him behind. I ran around looking for a place to hide and thought I needed a break, so I came here. I was hoping Kaoru came here as well but…"

"He didn't." Kyoya finished for him. Hikaru nodded.

"Yeah…"

"There you are!" A loud voice yelled towards the two males. Hikaru and Kyoya turned to see Haruhi and Tamaki walking towards them. "You were on the base the whole time Kyoya?" Haruhi sighed.

"Yes, I got tired fairly quickly and came here to rest. I do, however, think I am giving up since I don't see the reason in playing anymore." Haruhi inwardly groaned. Hikaru knew why Kyoya said this and smiled to him.

"Haruhi, I give up too. Set the chime off so that Kaoru can come out now." Haruhi looked towards the older twin with a curious expression. He sounded really serious over a simple game like this.

"I thought for sure you guys were going to hide together." Tamaki said as Haruhi pulled out the small device.

"We got separated while you and I were running from Haruhi earlier, and I didn't realize it until later." Hikaru replied. Haruhi pushed the button, and the loud chime filled their ears, echoing throughout the halls of the large Academy.

"Well, now he should be on his way here. To tell you the truth, he is a really good hider. I must have looked all over this school and still couldn't find him." Haruhi said. Hikaru's breath hitched as she said that.

_If she looked all over, then where could he be? Haruhi is a thorough searcher, so she couldn't have just missed him._

"Hika-chan? Are you okay? You don't look too good…" Honey said as he walked over to the group. Hikaru smiled and turned down towards his sempai. "I'm fine, just waiting for Kaoru to get back."

_Just get back here…_

* * *

Kaoru nearly jumped at the sound of the chime echoing throughout the classroom.

"Wait, am I the last one left?" He questioned to himself. Of course! He had to be if he was still hiding and the chime was going off. He remembered the instructions that the Boss gave everyone before they began playing.

"_**When all but one person is found then a chime that goes off when I hit this button will go off over the intercom." He held out a grey box with a red button on it, and pushed it. A loud chime, like the sound of an old Grandfather Clock went off all throughout the school. "When you hear that, whoever is still in hiding can come out of their hiding spot and meet us in the cafeteria."**_

"Heh, there's just one problem with that, Boss." Kaoru smiled sadly as he pushed once again on the doors that trapped him in the small space.

_I can't come out of my hiding spot._

Kaoru sighed and bit back the tears in his eyes. Crying wasn't going to do anyone any good. If he didn't go to the cafeteria when the chime went off, the others would still come looking for him, right? He doubted it. They would probably think he was pulling a prank on them or something.

_Hikaru would still come looking for me, right? _Of course he would. Hikaru was not only his twin brother, but he was also his best friend and the closest he's ever been with anybody. Right now, all he wanted was for Hikaru to come running through the classroom door, force open the cabinet, and to scoop him up into his arms and comfort him, just like he would usually do when they were younger or trying to make girls swoon in the Host Club. In order to keep from breaking down completely from loneliness, Kaoru kept on thinking about Hikaru, and how he would always have him by his side. He began to smile as he pictured Hikaru and him walking down the hallway, smiling and laughing, just like best friends do. Everything looked great, until they stopped walking and turned around. The smile on Hikaru's face grew wider as the familiar brunette girl ran up to them, laughing as they continued walking. Kaoru stayed behind and watched, an expressionless look on his face.

That's right; Sometimes he felt like he was going to lose his brother to Haruhi. Kaoru was well aware of the crush Hikaru had on her, and couldn't help but feel a little jealous, after all, they spent their whole lives together by themselves, and within a few months of meeting a girl Hikaru let someone else in.

_Until then, Hikaru and I had our own world that only we were a part of. But now…_

Maybe Hikaru shouldn't find him. Maybe Kaoru should just stay in the cabinet forever, that way he wouldn't become the third wheel when Hikaru was with Haruhi. Maybe he wouldn't feel as jealous knowing he had to share the only person he really cares about.

Maybe…

Maybe he should just accept it? He wanted his brother, his best friend to be happy, so it was selfish to not want that out of fear of being forgotten. Hikaru would never forget him.

Then…why did he feel so worried?

* * *

"It's been over ten minutes and he still isn't here!" Hikaru shouted as he began to run towards the doors. "I'm going to go look for him!"

"Wait Hikaru!" Haruhi shouted towards the retreating boy. Hikaru stopped and looked over at her. "We need to think of a plan first, maybe get a partner to search with or something?" She suggested. Hikaru frowned.

"Kaoru is my partner, and I don't have time to waste thinking up a plan. Let's all just split up and search all of the rooms again!"

"Calm down Hika-chan," Honey said from on top of Mori's shoulders. "Kao-chan probably just forgot what the chime meant so he is still hiding."

_Kaoru wouldn't forget that. _Hikaru thought. He couldn't say that out loud though, so he merely sighed and looked back at the group.

"You're probably right, but still; I'm going out to look for him. I think we should all just split up and search, but if you want to make partners and search in a certain way, then be my guest." The last part came out a little harsher then he meant it too, but he turned back around and ran out the door anyways.

"Maybe we should do what Hikaru said." Kyoya said, looking up from his book. "He knows his twin better than anybody so if he's worried about Kaoru then perhaps we should be worrying too."

"You might be right Mommy," Tamaki agreed, nodding his head. He looked towards the others and shot his arm in the air. "Let's all split up and look for Kaoru!" Everyone nodded and ran out of the cafeteria doors.

* * *

"Kaoru!" Hikaru shouted as he ran down by the music room. "Kaaoooorrruuuuu! Can you hear me?" Hikaru leaned over to catch his breath, tired from all of the running and shouting.

_This is probably the longest Kaoru and I have been separated._ Hikaru wanted to laugh at the thought but found that he couldn't. He hated being away from Kaoru, even if it was for just a moment. They were always side by side and never apart.

Well, physically anyways.

The last couple of months, Hikaru could tell that Kaoru had been emotionally distancing himself him. Or…maybe it was the other way around?

_But why?_ That question always popped into his head every time he questioned why he and Kaoru were a little more distant than usual. He let out a sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling his cell phone and a variety of other things like wrappers and eraser also in there. _Wait…cell phone? _Hikaru face palmed himself as he pulled out the phone and pushed Kaoru's speed dial button. Within seconds the phone began to ring and the familiar chime could be heard coming from the music room. Hikaru smiled as he turned around and dashed into the Host Club room.

"Kao—" he started as he burst in the door and saw Kaoru's cell lying on the sofa across the room. "—ru…" He muttered as he hung up the phone and jammed it back into his pocket. A sense of hopelessness came upon him and he looked down towards the ground.

_Kaoru…Kaoru…where the heck are you? _This was just like on Halloween when his class had that Test of Courage, and he ended up getting separated from Kaoru. He was so worried, and when he found Kaoru he was trapped in a room with the door blocked by sandbags.

_Kaoru must be even more scared than he was back then._ Hikaru thought. Suddenly, new found confidence overtook him as he clenched his fists and took off running, checking every room he passed, calling out for his beloved brother.

* * *

Kaoru could feel sweat forming on his face as he wiped it off with his sleeve. Breathing was beginning to get a little harder too. The orange haired teen frowned.

_That's bad right? A lack of oxygen is very, very bad. _How much longer could he be in here without suffocating? It had been almost an hour since he entered the cabinet, or maybe more. Kaoru gave up trying to keep track of time. His main goal was trying to breath in a way that didn't use up too much oxygen. His throat was also a little sore from calling out for Hikaru and the others for so long, and his legs were cramping from the position he was sitting in. His eye lids drooped and leaned back onto the side of the cabinet. _Please…someone… _Kaoru gave up on asking for Hikaru a long time ago when he realized that he wasn't coming. Then again, nobody came yet. Were they even looking for him? He could picture everyone sitting down in the cafeteria, laughing and talking about everyday things while he remained absent from their group. Hikaru looked towards him, smiling brightly, and opened his mouth.

"…_ru…!" _He stood up and walked closer.

"…_oru…!" _Whenever Hikaru talked, his voice sounded distant and far away.

"_Kaoru…!" _Was he calling for him? Why did he sound so far away then? He was right in front of him! Hikaru reached out for Kaoru but the younger twin made no attempt to move.

"KAORU!" Kaoru jumped up and opened his eyes, looking around the confined space. He heard his name being called from out in the hall. The voice sounded familiar…

"KAAOORRUUU!" The voice shouted again, this time closer.

"H-Hikaru!" Kaoru gasped, quickly standing up. "Hikaru!" He attempted to shout, but it merely came out in a hushed, cracked voice. He tried to pound on the doors but his arms were sore and weak so it didn't have much of an impact. "Hikaru!" He tried again.

_He must be searching all of the rooms… _Kaoru thought with guilt. _All of that because of me and something stupid I did to myself…I'm horrible…_

"KAORU!" Hikaru shouted just outside the door. Kaoru could hear the classroom door be thrust open.

"H-Hikaru!" Kaoru shouted, voice coming out like a scratchy whisper.

Hikaru didn't hear him.

Kaoru pounded on the doors, but the noise Hikaru was making while he was scampering about the classroom drowned his noise out.

_What am I going to do? He can't hear me!_ Tears welled up in Kaoru's eyes as he heard the feet retreat towards the door. He took in a thick intake of air and, at the top of his lungs, shouted out the name to his most cherished person.

"HIKARU!" Suddenly, the doors to the cabinet were pulled open and, just like looking into a mirror, the twins saw each other.

"K-Kaoru!" Hikaru shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru gasped as he stumbled out of the cabinet and into the strong arms of his older brother who quickly embraced him. Pain shot from his throat and Kaoru quickly grasped it wincing, letting out a fit of coughs.

"Oh, Kaoru! Please tell me you're alright! You're coughing really bad!" Hikaru sounded as if he was on the brink of tears as he squeezed his beloved younger twin as close as possible.

"I-I'm sorry Hikaru…" Kaoru said as the coughing died down. "My throat was sore and my voice was almost gone, but if I didn't call out to you as loud as I could then you might not of found me."

"Don't apologize! I left you behind! I'm so sorry! I don't know what I would have done if I didn't find you…I-I…." He merely squeezed Kaoru even tighter. The two stayed that way for a while, hugging and just enjoying being back in each other's company. More footsteps could be heard at the door and the two turned to see Haruhi and Tamaki run inside.

"Kaoru!" Haruhi exclaimed while running up to the two. "Thank goodness you're alright." She smiled. The rest of the Host Club ran in and smiled at the presence of the youngest twin.

"Where were you?" Honey asked, wiping away the sad tears from his eyes as he and Mori stepped into the room. Kaoru looked towards the floor ashamed.

"I lost Tamaki-sempai and Hikaru, and then I heard Haruhi walking down the hall so I ducked in here to hide. She was about to walk in so I climbed into the cabinet and I got locked in. I didn't find out until after Haruhi left though, so she didn't hear me calling for help.

"I'm so sorry," Haruhi apologized, looking incredibly guilty. "I-I didn't know…" Kaoru weakly smiled.

"It's okay, I just really want to get home and sleep." Everyone laughed and agreed, seeing how late it was getting.

"Don't you want dinner?" Hikaru joked. Kaoru smirked.

"Okay, maybe go home, eat, _and then_ sleep."

"That's better!" Hikaru said. The group laughed and everyone but Hikaru and Kaoru left the classroom.

"Are you guys coming?" Haruhi's voice called back to them. Hikaru replied with 'In a minute,' and turned back towards his brother.

"Can you walk okay? Hikaru asked. Kaoru stood up, but since his legs were so stiff from sitting in the cramped room he was wobbly. Hikaru smiled and placed his hand on Kaoru's waist and threw his brother's arm over his shoulders. "There you go!"

"Thanks…" Kaoru smiled as the two stood there in silence.

"Kaoru…" Hikaru started, "Is something wrong?"

"It's just…" How could he bring up the topic of him being jealous and scared of losing his only brother and best friend to Haruhi? "Can you promise me something?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru nodded.

"Of course! Anything for you." He smiled. Kaoru smiled back and leaned into his older brother.

"Can…we always be like this?" The question took Hikaru by surprise.

"What?" he asked.

"Can we always be this close, and never let anyone get between us?" He lowered his head shamefully. "I…don't want to lose you…to anyone. You're all I have…my only brother and best friend… I don't want to be alone…" Tears welled up in his eyes as he suddenly felt familiar arms wrap around his torso.

"You idiot! Of course we can!" Hikaru finally understood why Kaoru was emotionally distancing himself lately; He didn't want to be a third wheel to him and Haruhi, or to anyone else. He felt like they were going to lose everything they had just because of a person? Oh how wrong he was. "You are my most cherished person." Hikaru calmly said as he squeezed his brother tighter. "No one can change that. I promise you won't feel left out or alone anymore." Kaoru blushed and smiled at his twin.

The two stayed that way for a few seconds longer until they stood up.

"Come on, let's get home."

**A/N**

**What do you think? This is my first fanfic ever ! Submitted, at least. I have tons of unfinished ones that need to be finished. ****I would love to hear about the things you liked, what you noticed, or what I need to improve on. Just no flames please!**

**I haven't watched Ouran High School Host Club since forever ago! I just started getting back into it recently, and for some reason my favorite characters went from Honey and Mori to Hikaru and Kaoru. Weird. :D**

**Anyways, this was a one shot. I don't think I can quite call this Romance, but more like brotherly love. I really wanted a situation where Kaoru is in distress and Hikaru had to save him! I hope nobody was OOC, because that is one of my biggest challenges when writing cute things. I want a longer story with them in it and I do have a multi chapter fic in mind, but I'm horrible with commitment. I can't stay focused on the same story for more than a few weeks or months. So until I can stop being lazy and focus on one story at a time, I will probably just publish little things that may be a few chapters to one chapter. Who knows?**

**Please R&R! I live off positive feedback! Don't be too harsh if you are trying to correct a mistake I made though!**

**Also, if you have a good plot idea for these two or there's something you want to see, just let me know!**


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